In what was not exactly the surprise ruling of the century, the Pennsylvania courts have finally put an end to the drive to privatize York city schools.
York was poised to be an exemplar, a public school that had already reached the end of its ability to withstand the Pennsylvania public school starvation diet. That led to a state-appointed overseer. Last December, Tom Corbett's lame duck administration tried an 11th hour attempt to put York schools in receivership. The receiver was to be David Meckley, the same businessman who had already been serving as York's minder and who had all-but-inked a deal with Charter Schools USA to take over the whole system.
This plan appealed to absolutely nobody in York, but it fit the pattern of privatization-- starve a district of resources until it fails, then declare it a failure, declare that the students must be rescued, and bring in the charters. Essentially, reform by arson (because you just can't count on hurricanes to come in and do the work for you everywhere).
The local challenge to the takeover initially did poorly, with the courts ruling that it was legally irrelevant whether the state intended to do something stupid or not. The state then tried to argue that since the school board had been stripped of power, it did not have the power to appeal being stripped of power (because someone in Harrisburg has invested heavily in the use of the word "Kafkaesque" and was trying to prop up the market). The courts said stop being ridiculous, and the clock continued to run out on Corbett as new governor Tom Wolf, who had been rather sphinx-like on the subject of charters and whose home town is York, came out on the side of public schools.
Using his best wall-reading skills, David Meckley resigned his Post de Privateur a little over a month ago.
Now comes word that the court has cleared away the last of the issues surrounding the appointment of a receiver, which makes sense since there is nobody in Harrisburg or York arguing in favor of receivership or charterfication. The district still has a recovery officer, and like virtually all school districts in Pennsylvania, it is in huge financial trouble, but the recovery officer is somebody from education, not business, and its financial issues still belong to the public.
In short, York still has a tall mountain to climb. The new governor's proposed budget will help, but it won't perform miracles-- and that's only if it gets past the GOP legislature. The people of York and their school leaders will have some tough struggles ahead-- but at least those won't include watching a profit-making charter operation strip-mine their city schools for fun and profit. For the rest of us, this little tale is a reminder of what the end game looks like, and that it's not an unbeatable, unavoidable fate for public schools.
Showing posts with label York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label York. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
York PA: Charters Blocked
You may recall that the last time we checked in, York PA was on a fast track to the suspension of democracy. But that train has been called back to the station.
York Schools were among the PA schools suffering sever financial distress (PA has operated with a school funding system that produces a lot of local financial hardship). The previous administration of Tom Corbett had used that as a trigger to install a district recovery office, and just a few months ago-- almost as if we were in a hurry to do a deal before the new governor took office-- a PA judged ruled that the district could go into receivership, a nifty system in which the democraticaly elected school board is stripped of power and the state-appointed receiver could do as he wished.
What David Meckley, the receiver, wanted to do was turn the whole district over to for-profit charter chain, Charter Schools USA. Lots of people thought that was an awful idea (among other problems, there was no reason to believe that CSUSA had a clue what to do with the district once they took it over). The judge who ruled in the case did so based on close reading of the law, declaring that even if the plan was clearly terrible, that wasn't his problem. That ruling was being appealed.
But now all of that has come to a screeching halt.
The full account is in Friday's York Daily Record. The short headline version is simple-- David Meckley has resigned as recovery officer. The longer version is encouraging for Pennsylvanians (like me) who weren't really sure which way new governor Tom Wolf's wind would be blowing-- Meckley resigned because the governor's office made it plain that charters were off the table.
There was apparently an intermediate stage, during which Meckley and locals and the state fiddled with a charter-public mix plan.
Meckley said in an interview that, around December, he, district administrators, the proposed charter board and some community leaders had crafted an alternative plan that involved a mix of district- and charter-run buildings. He said he had significant conversations with the Wolf administration about it, but "ultimately the position came down that charters are off the table."
And so, reading the writing on the wall, Meckley has resigned, and the search for a new receiver is on. The board president is wryly hopeful.
"My understanding is they wanted to put someone in that position who knows about the educational aspect of schools," she said.
Meckley, even on his way out the door, continued to demonstrate that he was not that education-understanding guy by expressing his belief that a receivership was necessary because if the schools weren't going to be punished into excellence, they would never get there (I'm paraphrasing).
Wolf has stated, via his proposed budget, his intention to get funding back up to a higher level in Pennsylvania. What the budget will actually look like once it gets past the GOP-controlled legislature is another question. But this move in York follows Wolf's replacement of the chairman of the board that runs Philly schools after the defrocked chair approved more charters in Philly in opposition to Wolf's stated desire to have no more Philly charters.
Meanwhile, York has plenty of problems still to solve. The York Daily Record quotes Clovis Gallon, a teacher who was one of the leaders of the local charter opposition:
"Clearly we recognize the fact there's a lot of work to do with our students, with our community, with our school district," he said. "We're ready to accept that challenge. As a parent, as a teacher, I'm ready to accept the challenge."
York Schools were among the PA schools suffering sever financial distress (PA has operated with a school funding system that produces a lot of local financial hardship). The previous administration of Tom Corbett had used that as a trigger to install a district recovery office, and just a few months ago-- almost as if we were in a hurry to do a deal before the new governor took office-- a PA judged ruled that the district could go into receivership, a nifty system in which the democraticaly elected school board is stripped of power and the state-appointed receiver could do as he wished.
What David Meckley, the receiver, wanted to do was turn the whole district over to for-profit charter chain, Charter Schools USA. Lots of people thought that was an awful idea (among other problems, there was no reason to believe that CSUSA had a clue what to do with the district once they took it over). The judge who ruled in the case did so based on close reading of the law, declaring that even if the plan was clearly terrible, that wasn't his problem. That ruling was being appealed.
But now all of that has come to a screeching halt.
The full account is in Friday's York Daily Record. The short headline version is simple-- David Meckley has resigned as recovery officer. The longer version is encouraging for Pennsylvanians (like me) who weren't really sure which way new governor Tom Wolf's wind would be blowing-- Meckley resigned because the governor's office made it plain that charters were off the table.
There was apparently an intermediate stage, during which Meckley and locals and the state fiddled with a charter-public mix plan.
Meckley said in an interview that, around December, he, district administrators, the proposed charter board and some community leaders had crafted an alternative plan that involved a mix of district- and charter-run buildings. He said he had significant conversations with the Wolf administration about it, but "ultimately the position came down that charters are off the table."
And so, reading the writing on the wall, Meckley has resigned, and the search for a new receiver is on. The board president is wryly hopeful.
"My understanding is they wanted to put someone in that position who knows about the educational aspect of schools," she said.
Meckley, even on his way out the door, continued to demonstrate that he was not that education-understanding guy by expressing his belief that a receivership was necessary because if the schools weren't going to be punished into excellence, they would never get there (I'm paraphrasing).
Wolf has stated, via his proposed budget, his intention to get funding back up to a higher level in Pennsylvania. What the budget will actually look like once it gets past the GOP-controlled legislature is another question. But this move in York follows Wolf's replacement of the chairman of the board that runs Philly schools after the defrocked chair approved more charters in Philly in opposition to Wolf's stated desire to have no more Philly charters.
Meanwhile, York has plenty of problems still to solve. The York Daily Record quotes Clovis Gallon, a teacher who was one of the leaders of the local charter opposition:
"Clearly we recognize the fact there's a lot of work to do with our students, with our community, with our school district," he said. "We're ready to accept that challenge. As a parent, as a teacher, I'm ready to accept the challenge."
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
York Catches a Break
The school board of York, PA, has a chance to convince a court that it is not just a useless appendage. Monday Judge Stephen Linebaugh, the same judge who ruled that York schools should go into receivership, ruled that they get a chance to appeal that action.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had argued that since the previous ruling stripped the board of all power (except the power to tax), they did not have the power to appeal being stripped of their power. The stakes are high because the receiver appointed by the state has already made it clear that his plan is to hand York schools, lock, stock and barrel, to for-profit charter operator Charter Schools USA.
The appeal process will take a while. Specifically, it will take more than enough time for all education-related eyes in the state to turn toward Harrisburg and say," Well......?"
New governors don't always get a chance to be tested right out of the gate, but that's where Tom Wolf finds himself now. Wolf has been pretty quiet on the subject, and only spoke up in opposition when 1) it looked like some teacher support would help his electoral chances and 2) reporter Colleen Kennedy called him out. From Wolf's perspective, this is a big fraught mess-- his home town, his old friends, his new alliances, and his education stance as governor are all tied to this mess.
Come January 20th, Wolf's office could put the kibosh on this state sponsored yard sale of local school power and property, or he could do nothing, or he could put corporate interests ahead of local ones. He has no choice but to show us what kind of education governor he's going to be. Unfortunately, the final line of pennlive's coverage of the story yesterday is this:
A Wolf spokesman did not respond to messages seeking comment on the governor's plans.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had argued that since the previous ruling stripped the board of all power (except the power to tax), they did not have the power to appeal being stripped of their power. The stakes are high because the receiver appointed by the state has already made it clear that his plan is to hand York schools, lock, stock and barrel, to for-profit charter operator Charter Schools USA.
The appeal process will take a while. Specifically, it will take more than enough time for all education-related eyes in the state to turn toward Harrisburg and say," Well......?"
New governors don't always get a chance to be tested right out of the gate, but that's where Tom Wolf finds himself now. Wolf has been pretty quiet on the subject, and only spoke up in opposition when 1) it looked like some teacher support would help his electoral chances and 2) reporter Colleen Kennedy called him out. From Wolf's perspective, this is a big fraught mess-- his home town, his old friends, his new alliances, and his education stance as governor are all tied to this mess.
Come January 20th, Wolf's office could put the kibosh on this state sponsored yard sale of local school power and property, or he could do nothing, or he could put corporate interests ahead of local ones. He has no choice but to show us what kind of education governor he's going to be. Unfortunately, the final line of pennlive's coverage of the story yesterday is this:
A Wolf spokesman did not respond to messages seeking comment on the governor's plans.
Friday, January 2, 2015
Suspension of Democracy Proceeds in York
York, PA is currently the front line of a new battle over public education.
A PA judge has ruled that the state can go ahead with its plan to put the district in receivership, appointing the same David Meckley who has served as the district's recover officer. Meckley, a 63-year-old businessman, has the advantage of being a York native, but the disadvantage of having no educational background.
The stakes are higher because everyone already knows what Meckley's plan is-- to hand the entire district over to the Charter Schools USA for-profit chain. This is not the first time in the US that such a move has been tried; you just don't hear much from reformsters about Muskegon Heights, Michigan, because that experiment ended prematurely, in failure.
The next move came before the ink was dry on the court's ruling. The district's school board and two unions filed an appeal. And reactions started to roll in.
The York Dispatch ran an editorial that, among other things, called the CSUSA plan "half-baked" and attacked the 2012 PA law that law underneath the judge's ruling. Opinions began to roll in from elsewhere.
People have been watching governor-elect Tom Wolf carefully. Sure, he's a Democrat. So is Andrew Cuomo. He is also a York resident with ties to Meckley and the private school community. Colleen Kennedy has been the reporter on the ground since before Day One, and her work on this subject is exhaustive. Bottom line-- there's no certainty about which way Wolf will jump on this one.
The comment issued from his office does not necessarily clarify the matter. Though this reporter summarizes Wolf as "opposed" to the takeover, let's look at what spokesperson Jeff Sheridan actually said:
Gov.-elect Wolf knows that schools across Pennsylvania have been starved for resources over the last four years and our children are being put at a disadvantage. As a result, district like York have been forced to the brink of financial collapse. Gov.-elect Wolf will make education his top priority by working to restore funding cuts and providing adequate resources so school districts can deliver on the promise of a high-quality public education for all Pennsylvanians.
In short, it's not his fault that this is happening. He plans to take steps to make sure it doesn't happen any more. But it does not say, directly or indirectly, that the York takeover should be stopped, should not happen, will be fought by the governor's office.
If he wants to really step up, he has the chance. "The state" has filed motions to get the appeal thrown out, starting with the school board's appeal. "The state" has a two-pronged approach to their objection. Prong one, the nit-picky prong, is the technicality that the board took the action of filing the appeal without a proper public meeting and vote.
Prong two, the "insult to injury" prong, says that at the moment the judge's ruling was issued, David Meckley became the Lord and Master of the York School District and nobody employed by the district could say "boo" about the lawsuit without his permission. Shut the door quick! Some actual voters or taxpayers might get a chance to say something!
And there's why everybody should be pissed off, upset, opposed to, and calling their congressperson about York. Because the state's underlying rationale here is, "The voters and taxpayers of York have, in the state's opinion, lost their right to have any sort of say about York schools. In Harrisburg, we have decided that democracy should be suspended in York because we don't like the way the voters handled it. Democracy is nice and all, but it's a luxury that only Some People are entitled to, and in Harrisburg, we've decided that the people of York are Not The Right People."
In York, we see laid out with stark clarity, the process that has been under way in many school systems, and this is the aspect of reformsterdom that people who don't even give a rat's rear about schools and education should still be paying attention to, because the root of the process, from York to Philly to Detroit to Chicago to New York is to replace democracy with corporate ownership. The process is about taking the vote away from citizens and giving it to corporate operators. This is literally taxation without representation.
Pennsylvania is not technically a state. We're a commonwealth, but these days that title seems a bit misplaced.
A PA judge has ruled that the state can go ahead with its plan to put the district in receivership, appointing the same David Meckley who has served as the district's recover officer. Meckley, a 63-year-old businessman, has the advantage of being a York native, but the disadvantage of having no educational background.
The stakes are higher because everyone already knows what Meckley's plan is-- to hand the entire district over to the Charter Schools USA for-profit chain. This is not the first time in the US that such a move has been tried; you just don't hear much from reformsters about Muskegon Heights, Michigan, because that experiment ended prematurely, in failure.
The next move came before the ink was dry on the court's ruling. The district's school board and two unions filed an appeal. And reactions started to roll in.
The York Dispatch ran an editorial that, among other things, called the CSUSA plan "half-baked" and attacked the 2012 PA law that law underneath the judge's ruling. Opinions began to roll in from elsewhere.
People have been watching governor-elect Tom Wolf carefully. Sure, he's a Democrat. So is Andrew Cuomo. He is also a York resident with ties to Meckley and the private school community. Colleen Kennedy has been the reporter on the ground since before Day One, and her work on this subject is exhaustive. Bottom line-- there's no certainty about which way Wolf will jump on this one.
The comment issued from his office does not necessarily clarify the matter. Though this reporter summarizes Wolf as "opposed" to the takeover, let's look at what spokesperson Jeff Sheridan actually said:
Gov.-elect Wolf knows that schools across Pennsylvania have been starved for resources over the last four years and our children are being put at a disadvantage. As a result, district like York have been forced to the brink of financial collapse. Gov.-elect Wolf will make education his top priority by working to restore funding cuts and providing adequate resources so school districts can deliver on the promise of a high-quality public education for all Pennsylvanians.
In short, it's not his fault that this is happening. He plans to take steps to make sure it doesn't happen any more. But it does not say, directly or indirectly, that the York takeover should be stopped, should not happen, will be fought by the governor's office.
If he wants to really step up, he has the chance. "The state" has filed motions to get the appeal thrown out, starting with the school board's appeal. "The state" has a two-pronged approach to their objection. Prong one, the nit-picky prong, is the technicality that the board took the action of filing the appeal without a proper public meeting and vote.
Prong two, the "insult to injury" prong, says that at the moment the judge's ruling was issued, David Meckley became the Lord and Master of the York School District and nobody employed by the district could say "boo" about the lawsuit without his permission. Shut the door quick! Some actual voters or taxpayers might get a chance to say something!
And there's why everybody should be pissed off, upset, opposed to, and calling their congressperson about York. Because the state's underlying rationale here is, "The voters and taxpayers of York have, in the state's opinion, lost their right to have any sort of say about York schools. In Harrisburg, we have decided that democracy should be suspended in York because we don't like the way the voters handled it. Democracy is nice and all, but it's a luxury that only Some People are entitled to, and in Harrisburg, we've decided that the people of York are Not The Right People."
In York, we see laid out with stark clarity, the process that has been under way in many school systems, and this is the aspect of reformsterdom that people who don't even give a rat's rear about schools and education should still be paying attention to, because the root of the process, from York to Philly to Detroit to Chicago to New York is to replace democracy with corporate ownership. The process is about taking the vote away from citizens and giving it to corporate operators. This is literally taxation without representation.
Pennsylvania is not technically a state. We're a commonwealth, but these days that title seems a bit misplaced.
Friday, December 26, 2014
The Shafting of York, PA: Round One
Merry Christmas to the teachers, taxpayers, students, parents and elected school board of York, PA. Today Stephen P. Linebaugh, President Judge of the 19th Judicial District of Pennsylvania ruled that the state may go ahead with takeover of York Schools. Well, not so much "take over" as "hand over to a for-profit charter school company with a dubious track record in Florida." A lump of coal would have been an improvement. York is one step closer to being the first district in the country state converted straight to full charter takeover. [Correction-- York will be the first all charter in PA, but not the nation. But they will be the only all-charter currently operating in the nation.]
Here are some of the salient points to keep in mind as this story continues to unfold (because appeals are going to be filed with all the quickness, you may be sure).
Why is York's school problem, anyway?
Money. York is an exceptionally poor district, and under Tom Corbett, poor schools took an enormous hit. In Pennsylvania, public schools depend a great degree on local funding, with the state historically kicking in a little extra based on just how poor the district might be. PA schools took a one-two punch over the past six or seven years. First, previous Governor Ed Rendell (D) took the stimulus money and did just what he wasn't supposed to-- he used it to fund schools. Second, when Corbett arrived and the stimulus money left, he did not replace it. The biggest cuts of state funding happened in the poorest districts (you can visit Philly for further demonstrations of how this is working out). In 2012, York had 15% of its budget-- $8.4 million-- cut by the state.
So the state took over, anointing David Meckley Grand High Recovery Officer of the district. And it turns out that Meckley loves him some charters.And now the state (rather quickly-- as if they were working against some sort of deadline) wants to upgrade him to Receiver. Others disagree. And so, court.
So why is the state taking over?
Surprise-- this is not even the kind of academic takeover turnaround we keep hearing about from reformsters. Pennsylvania put York into Recovery Purgatory for financial hardship.
While the state's proposed receiver is making noises about improving student test scores and the district's standing in the state, academics are not what got the state involved in the first place. This is about the benjamins. If you want to see how raw and simple the conversion to Full Charter Ownership can be, here it is. Have your state government cut education budgets, then have the same government take over the school district because it is too financially strapped (because the state cut their budget). The only way to make it simpler would be for state governments to say, "We are going to give your district to a charter company because we want to." If you want to take a more detailed look at this maneuver, I recommend this post from Jersey Jazzman.
Why do they want to upgrade to receivership? Because recoveryship isn't working? Because the teachers aren't cooperating? Because PA will have a new governor at the end of the month? Pick your favorite.
What did the judge's ruling say?
The full text of the ruling is attached to this story, but I can hit some of the highlights for you.
In the discussion, the judge defined the issue as whether or not the Secretary's call for a Receiver was arbitrary, capricious, or wholly irrelevant to the financial recovery of the district. "The issues was not," he said, "what action the Receiver would take if appointed by the court."
That's a critical issue because everybody knows what action the Receiver intends to take-- handing over the district, lock, stock and barrel, to for-profit corporation Charter Schools USA. And while the future plans might have a teensy bit of bearing on the case, "It is not for the court to determine whether or not it is the best plan or even a good plan for the District. That is a determination to be made by the Receiver." The ruling's list of Receiver powers indicates that he can do pretty much any damn thing he wants without being answerable to anybody.
In the judge's opinion, the state followed the rules when calling for receivership. The school district meets some basic standards of the law (minimum 7500 students, for example) and it did some things that were not in line with the Recovery Plan that was in place (failing to get its teacher union to accept a contract with massive cuts, for example).
So the judge's basic ruling, as I read it, is that the state may or may not have a good idea about how to run the schools, but it followed its rules in doing so.
Charter Schools USA is a poster child for everything wrong with charters
Local news took a quick look at what charter operation would mean. By asking the charter operators. Guess what-- it will be awesome!
Spokeswoman, Paula Jackson, says the company has a history of turning around struggling schools. Over the span of three years all schools the company has taken over have improved to a satisfactory score. She says turning York City schools around would be nothing new.
“Look we’ve been through this, this is what we have to offer, we’re here to help. Whatever we can do to support you and your students to get them out of being 499 out of 500, we believe in these kids,” says Jackson.
I particularly appreciate how Jackson believes in these kids that they've never met and don't actually know. Perhaps she means that the company believes that these kids exist and will make them a butt-load of money.
Remember, for-profit charter is the very definition of a zero-sum game-- every dollar spent on students is a dollar the company doesn't get to keep. What could be better than a school system in which students are a cost to be control, little human money hemorrhages that must be cauterized and clipped.
Apparently, many things could be better. Charter Schools USA operate in Florida, where the League of Women Voters conducted a one-year study of charters. Turns out Charter Schools USA make use of one of the great profit-making arms of charterdom-- real estate. Here's League Education Chair Patricia Hall talking about how it works:
Our shining local examples in Hillsborough County are owned by Charter Schools USA. My first glimpse of Winthrop Charter School in Riverview in November of 2011 was during a scheduled visit with then Rep. Rachel Burgin. When told the two story brick building was a charter school, I was mystified. The site on which it was built was purchased from John Sullivan by Ryan Construction Company, Minneapolis, MN. From research done by the League of Women Voters of Florida all school building purchases ultimately owned and managed by for-profit Charter Schools USA are initiated by Ryan Construction. The Winthrop site was sold to Ryan Co. in March, 2011 for $2,206,700. In September, 2011 the completed 50,000 square foot building was sold to Red Apple Development Company, LLC for $9,300,000 titled as are all schools managed by Charter Schools USA. Red Apple Development is the school development arm of Charter Schools USA. We, tax payers of Hillsborough County, have paid $969,000 and $988,380 for the last two years to Charter Schools USA in lease fees!
CSUSA has been in business since 1997. Its head honcho, Johnathan Hage, bounced around before taking a last bank shot off the Heritage Foundation in DC and ending up in Florida as a Bush Buddy at Foundations for Florida Future. When Florida passed a charter law in 1996, Hage was right there to jump on the wave. And he was riding it in Indianapolis with Tony Bennett, another Friend Indebted to Bush, where a few million dollars just kind of went missing. Florida charter biz has been big money, little oversight for years, and Hage and CSUSA have been doing just fine.
This might be a dumb move for CSUSA
CSUSA boasts about spending little money on students and getting good test results. They like uniforms. They like structure. And they like requiring "merit pay" for teachers. But this still might be a bad move for them.
The problem with having a charter take over an entire city school system is that it leaves them with no dumping ground. All modern charter success stories depend on one thing-- a dumping ground for students who will hurt the numbers. Students who cost too much to teach because they have one special need or another. Students who are behavior problems. Students who get low test scores. Students who don't show an aptitude for picking up English. Modern charter success stories require a place to dump all of the problem children. Charters depend on attrition, but if they own the whole city system, where will students attrit to?
If CSUSA takes all of York schools, what will they do with the problem students. They will, of course, devote plenty of everyone's time to test prep. But if this is going to work for them, they'll need a dumping ground for students who can not or will not respond well to a steady diet of test prep. These guys have been at this for a while so either A) they've started believing their own PR or B) they've already figured out a solution. In which case, keep your eyes open for the Dumping Ground Loophole in their proposal.
And here's the other part of their problem:
Nobody wants this
Virtually every sector of the York community has spoken out against this move. That includes the elected school board, the teachers union, various members of the taxpaying public-- and it includes York's most prominent native son, the governor-elect of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf. Do you suppose it means anything that we've been trying to ram this through in the last weeks before Wolf takes office? I would like to think it does, but the Receiver is an old friend of Wolf's, and his charter sell-out plan didn't get a squawk from candidate Wolf until journalist Colleen Kennedy stirred up some noise.
I am particularly curious about the teaching staff. CSUSA prefers the merit pay model, favored by pretty much nobody who has experienced it. What would happen if CSUSA were unable to fully staff its schools? They are claiming they can produce more resources and staff down the line, but what makes them think they can do it.
We're not done yet
I assume that the state teachers' union had their appeal already written with a finger on the "send" key before the ink was even dry on today's ruling. So there will be more court shenanigans.
In the meantime, Pennsylvania has a really lousy but quite active cyber-schooling sector. A bad upholding of this lousy decision could touch off a head-to-head battle between charters, as angry parents pull their students to get online instead.
But make no mistake-- this is not good news. It's particularly bad news if you are in PA's other high-poverty districts. If it becomes this easy, this simple for a state to simply hand a school district to a for-profit charter, then in the long run, nobody is safe. Well, except all the people running those charter corporations, cheerfully converting public tax dollars to private profits.
If you care about public education, you may not know much about York, PA, but I'll bet that before too long, you'll know plenty about the decisions that are made there.
Here are some of the salient points to keep in mind as this story continues to unfold (because appeals are going to be filed with all the quickness, you may be sure).
Why is York's school problem, anyway?
Money. York is an exceptionally poor district, and under Tom Corbett, poor schools took an enormous hit. In Pennsylvania, public schools depend a great degree on local funding, with the state historically kicking in a little extra based on just how poor the district might be. PA schools took a one-two punch over the past six or seven years. First, previous Governor Ed Rendell (D) took the stimulus money and did just what he wasn't supposed to-- he used it to fund schools. Second, when Corbett arrived and the stimulus money left, he did not replace it. The biggest cuts of state funding happened in the poorest districts (you can visit Philly for further demonstrations of how this is working out). In 2012, York had 15% of its budget-- $8.4 million-- cut by the state.
So the state took over, anointing David Meckley Grand High Recovery Officer of the district. And it turns out that Meckley loves him some charters.And now the state (rather quickly-- as if they were working against some sort of deadline) wants to upgrade him to Receiver. Others disagree. And so, court.
So why is the state taking over?
Surprise-- this is not even the kind of academic takeover turnaround we keep hearing about from reformsters. Pennsylvania put York into Recovery Purgatory for financial hardship.
While the state's proposed receiver is making noises about improving student test scores and the district's standing in the state, academics are not what got the state involved in the first place. This is about the benjamins. If you want to see how raw and simple the conversion to Full Charter Ownership can be, here it is. Have your state government cut education budgets, then have the same government take over the school district because it is too financially strapped (because the state cut their budget). The only way to make it simpler would be for state governments to say, "We are going to give your district to a charter company because we want to." If you want to take a more detailed look at this maneuver, I recommend this post from Jersey Jazzman.
Why do they want to upgrade to receivership? Because recoveryship isn't working? Because the teachers aren't cooperating? Because PA will have a new governor at the end of the month? Pick your favorite.
What did the judge's ruling say?
The full text of the ruling is attached to this story, but I can hit some of the highlights for you.
In the discussion, the judge defined the issue as whether or not the Secretary's call for a Receiver was arbitrary, capricious, or wholly irrelevant to the financial recovery of the district. "The issues was not," he said, "what action the Receiver would take if appointed by the court."
That's a critical issue because everybody knows what action the Receiver intends to take-- handing over the district, lock, stock and barrel, to for-profit corporation Charter Schools USA. And while the future plans might have a teensy bit of bearing on the case, "It is not for the court to determine whether or not it is the best plan or even a good plan for the District. That is a determination to be made by the Receiver." The ruling's list of Receiver powers indicates that he can do pretty much any damn thing he wants without being answerable to anybody.
In the judge's opinion, the state followed the rules when calling for receivership. The school district meets some basic standards of the law (minimum 7500 students, for example) and it did some things that were not in line with the Recovery Plan that was in place (failing to get its teacher union to accept a contract with massive cuts, for example).
So the judge's basic ruling, as I read it, is that the state may or may not have a good idea about how to run the schools, but it followed its rules in doing so.
Charter Schools USA is a poster child for everything wrong with charters
Local news took a quick look at what charter operation would mean. By asking the charter operators. Guess what-- it will be awesome!
Spokeswoman, Paula Jackson, says the company has a history of turning around struggling schools. Over the span of three years all schools the company has taken over have improved to a satisfactory score. She says turning York City schools around would be nothing new.
“Look we’ve been through this, this is what we have to offer, we’re here to help. Whatever we can do to support you and your students to get them out of being 499 out of 500, we believe in these kids,” says Jackson.
I particularly appreciate how Jackson believes in these kids that they've never met and don't actually know. Perhaps she means that the company believes that these kids exist and will make them a butt-load of money.
Remember, for-profit charter is the very definition of a zero-sum game-- every dollar spent on students is a dollar the company doesn't get to keep. What could be better than a school system in which students are a cost to be control, little human money hemorrhages that must be cauterized and clipped.
Apparently, many things could be better. Charter Schools USA operate in Florida, where the League of Women Voters conducted a one-year study of charters. Turns out Charter Schools USA make use of one of the great profit-making arms of charterdom-- real estate. Here's League Education Chair Patricia Hall talking about how it works:
Our shining local examples in Hillsborough County are owned by Charter Schools USA. My first glimpse of Winthrop Charter School in Riverview in November of 2011 was during a scheduled visit with then Rep. Rachel Burgin. When told the two story brick building was a charter school, I was mystified. The site on which it was built was purchased from John Sullivan by Ryan Construction Company, Minneapolis, MN. From research done by the League of Women Voters of Florida all school building purchases ultimately owned and managed by for-profit Charter Schools USA are initiated by Ryan Construction. The Winthrop site was sold to Ryan Co. in March, 2011 for $2,206,700. In September, 2011 the completed 50,000 square foot building was sold to Red Apple Development Company, LLC for $9,300,000 titled as are all schools managed by Charter Schools USA. Red Apple Development is the school development arm of Charter Schools USA. We, tax payers of Hillsborough County, have paid $969,000 and $988,380 for the last two years to Charter Schools USA in lease fees!
CSUSA has been in business since 1997. Its head honcho, Johnathan Hage, bounced around before taking a last bank shot off the Heritage Foundation in DC and ending up in Florida as a Bush Buddy at Foundations for Florida Future. When Florida passed a charter law in 1996, Hage was right there to jump on the wave. And he was riding it in Indianapolis with Tony Bennett, another Friend Indebted to Bush, where a few million dollars just kind of went missing. Florida charter biz has been big money, little oversight for years, and Hage and CSUSA have been doing just fine.
This might be a dumb move for CSUSA
CSUSA boasts about spending little money on students and getting good test results. They like uniforms. They like structure. And they like requiring "merit pay" for teachers. But this still might be a bad move for them.
The problem with having a charter take over an entire city school system is that it leaves them with no dumping ground. All modern charter success stories depend on one thing-- a dumping ground for students who will hurt the numbers. Students who cost too much to teach because they have one special need or another. Students who are behavior problems. Students who get low test scores. Students who don't show an aptitude for picking up English. Modern charter success stories require a place to dump all of the problem children. Charters depend on attrition, but if they own the whole city system, where will students attrit to?
If CSUSA takes all of York schools, what will they do with the problem students. They will, of course, devote plenty of everyone's time to test prep. But if this is going to work for them, they'll need a dumping ground for students who can not or will not respond well to a steady diet of test prep. These guys have been at this for a while so either A) they've started believing their own PR or B) they've already figured out a solution. In which case, keep your eyes open for the Dumping Ground Loophole in their proposal.
And here's the other part of their problem:
Nobody wants this
Virtually every sector of the York community has spoken out against this move. That includes the elected school board, the teachers union, various members of the taxpaying public-- and it includes York's most prominent native son, the governor-elect of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf. Do you suppose it means anything that we've been trying to ram this through in the last weeks before Wolf takes office? I would like to think it does, but the Receiver is an old friend of Wolf's, and his charter sell-out plan didn't get a squawk from candidate Wolf until journalist Colleen Kennedy stirred up some noise.
I am particularly curious about the teaching staff. CSUSA prefers the merit pay model, favored by pretty much nobody who has experienced it. What would happen if CSUSA were unable to fully staff its schools? They are claiming they can produce more resources and staff down the line, but what makes them think they can do it.
We're not done yet
I assume that the state teachers' union had their appeal already written with a finger on the "send" key before the ink was even dry on today's ruling. So there will be more court shenanigans.
In the meantime, Pennsylvania has a really lousy but quite active cyber-schooling sector. A bad upholding of this lousy decision could touch off a head-to-head battle between charters, as angry parents pull their students to get online instead.
But make no mistake-- this is not good news. It's particularly bad news if you are in PA's other high-poverty districts. If it becomes this easy, this simple for a state to simply hand a school district to a for-profit charter, then in the long run, nobody is safe. Well, except all the people running those charter corporations, cheerfully converting public tax dollars to private profits.
If you care about public education, you may not know much about York, PA, but I'll bet that before too long, you'll know plenty about the decisions that are made there.
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